Title:CBX8 Promotes Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition, Migration, and
Invasion of Lung Cancer through Wnt/β-catenin Signaling Pathway
Volume: 25
Issue: 5
Author(s): Xiaoping Cai, Yuankai Lv, Jiongwei Pan, Zhuo Cao, Junzhi Zhang, Yuling Li and Hao Zheng*
Affiliation:
- Department of Respiratory, Six affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui People’s Hospital, Lishui
323000, China
Keywords:
CBX8, Wnt/β-catenin, lung cancer, EMT, cell proliferation, PcG protein family, qRT-PCR.
Abstract:
Background: Lung cancer (LC) is primarily responsible for cancer-related deaths
worldwide. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process in which epithelial cells acquire
mesenchymal features and is associated with the development of tumors. CBX8, a member of the
PcG protein family, plays a critical role in various cancers, containing LC. However, specific regulatory
mechanisms of CBX8 in LC progression are not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate
the regulatory role of CBX8 in LC progression.
Methods: Bioinformatics was used to analyze the relationship between CBX8 level and tumor and
the enrichment pathway of CBX8 enrichment. qRT-PCR was used to detect the differential expression
of CBX8 in LC cells and normal lung epithelial cells. The effects of knockdown or overexpression
of CBX8 on the proliferation, migration and invasion of LC cells were evaluated by CCK-
-8 assay and Transwell assay, and the levels of proteins associated with the EMT pathway and Wnt/
β-catenin signaling pathway were detected by western blot.
Results: Bioinformatics analysis revealed that CBX8 was highly expressed in LC and enriched on
the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. The expression level of CBX8 was significantly elevated in
LC cells. Knockdown of CBX8 significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion,
and decreased the expression levels of EMT-related proteins and Wnt/β-catenin pathway-related
proteins. Conversely, overexpression of CBX8 promoted cell proliferation, migration and invasion,
and increased the expression levels of EMT-related proteins and Wnt/β-catenin pathway-related
proteins. The Wnt inhibitor IWP-4 alleviated the effects produced by overexpression of
CBX8.
Conclusion: Collectively, these data demonstrated that CBX8 induced EMT through Wnt/β--
catenin signaling, driving migration and invasion of LC cells.
